Overview
- Koja defeated two‑term incumbent Denny Tamaki in the Sept. 13–14 vote, winning about 59 percent with 423,124 votes to Tamaki’s 276,060, according to Okinawa prefectural results reported by multiple outlets.
- Koja ran with backing from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party and has said he accepts the central government’s plan to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from crowded Ginowan to the Henoko area of Nago.
- His victory is expected to end the prefectural legal and political obstacles that successive anti‑relocation governors used to delay work at Henoko and could make it easier for Tokyo and the U.S. to widen military access to civilian airports and ports.
- Economy and daily living costs were central to voters, and Koja campaigned on promises to double Okinawa’s per‑capita income and secure a larger central budget for development to lift jobs and wages.
- The result shifts Okinawa’s political landscape for the first time in 12 years and could accelerate Tokyo’s broader defence plans; observers say the next steps to watch are prefectural approvals, construction timelines at Henoko and how Tokyo negotiates base‑use changes with Washington.